The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus provided with conveyance paths for two-sided printing in which a recording sheet is conveyed in forming images on both sides of the recording sheet.
An image forming apparatus such as a copier or a printer includes an image forming unit for performing an image forming process to form an image on a recording sheet, a fixing unit for performing a fixing process to fix an image to a recording sheet by heat, a sheet conveyance path for conveying a recording sheet via the image forming unit and the fixing unit, and a conveyance path for two-sided printing, i.e. a so-called reversing conveyance path for conveying a recording sheet having the fixing process performed thereon to a side of the sheet conveyance path upstream of the image forming unit in the case of forming images on both sides of the recording sheet. The sheet conveyance path communicates with a discharge tray.
In the above image forming apparatus, a conveying unit which forms the sheet conveyance path and the reversing conveyance path and opens and closes the sheet conveyance path is supported by three slide guides so as to be slidable in a horizontal direction for the purpose of facilitating the processing of a jam which could occur in the sheet conveyance path. The first slide guide is provided in a lower end part of the conveying unit on a jam restoration processing access side (for example a front side of the image forming apparatus), and the second and third slide guides are provided in upper and lower end portions on a side opposite to the jam restoration processing access side in the conveying unit. Accordingly, an upper end portion of the jam restoration processing access side in the conveying unit is open. This enables a jam restoration processing to be easily performed from the open side.
In the above image forming apparatus, operability in jam restoration processing is improved by constructing the conveying unit as described above. However, image forming apparatuses of recent years are required to have improved operability in jam restoration processing and sufficiently cool a recording sheet being conveyed in a reversing conveyance path by a conveying unit. The recording sheet having an image fixed to one side thereof is hot. Thus, if an image is formed on the other side for two-sided printing without the recording sheet being cooled, the image is likely to be blurred by heat. If the image is blurred, a high-quality image cannot be formed.
Accordingly, in view of the above situation, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an image forming apparatus in which a jam restoration processing can be easily performed and high-quality images are formed on both sides by cooling a recording sheet.